Table 114 Aug 2026From “Programmatic M&A: the claim that outlived its test”

Programmatic, defined seven ways

The winning archetype's own definition, document by document. Every telling that states a threshold states a different one; the 2021 article states two; the last two state none.

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Table 1Programmatic, defined seven ways

Document	"Programmatic" means	Dataset
Apr 2011, McKinsey Quarterly	No winning pattern: size and frequency distributions "widely distributed and overlapping"	Top 1,000 by market cap; 917 firms, 30,000+ deals
Jan 2012, McKinsey Quarterly	Many small deals totalling 19% or more of market cap over the decade: the cutoff is the sample's own median	Top 1,000 nonbanking; 15,000+ deals
May 2018, HBR	At least one deal a year, cumulatively more than 30% of market cap over 10 years, no single deal above 30%	2,393 largest corporations, 2010–2014
Jul 2019, McKinsey Quarterly	More than two small or midsize deals a year, median 15% of market cap acquired	"Global 1,000", 2007–2017
Oct 2021, fn. 3	More than two small or midsize deals a year, total acquired "meaningful (median of 19 percent)"	"Global 2,000"
Oct 2021, fn. 4: same article	"A minimum of two small or midsize deals a year, with meaningful market capitalization acquired (20 percent to 30 percent)"	"Global 2,000"
Mar 2022 / Aug 2023	No threshold stated: "multiple small or medium-size acquisitions"	"Global 2,000"

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Source: Author's assembly from the cited documents' own text and footnotes: Cottin, Rehm & Uhlaner (2011); Rehm, Uhlaner & West (2012), fn. 3; Bradley, Hirt, Smit & West (2018); Rudnicki, Siegel & West (2019), fn. 2; Daume, Lundberg, McCurdy, Rudnicki & Wol (2021), fn. 3 and fn. 4; Daume, Lundberg, Montag & Rudnicki (2022); Daume, Lian & McCurdy (2023). Definitions quoted or condensed from prose and footnotes only.

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From the essay

Growth that compounds

Programmatic M&A: the claim that outlived its test

Every banker deck says the winners do many small deals. The claim's own shop published the null first, and the nearest test answers with conditions.

14 Aug 2026

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Isoglu, S. (2026). Programmatic, defined seven ways [Table]. isoglu.com. https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-the-claim-that-outlived-its-test-fig01/

BibTeX

@misc{isoglu-2026-the-claim-that-outlived-its-test-fig01,
  author = {Isoglu, Sinan},
  title = {{Programmatic, defined seven ways}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Table 1, isoglu.com},
  url = {https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-the-claim-that-outlived-its-test-fig01/},
  note = {From the essay {Programmatic M\&A: the claim that outlived its test}}
}

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  <figcaption>Table 1: Programmatic, defined seven ways. Source: Author&#39;s assembly from the cited documents&#39; own text and footnotes: Cottin, Rehm &amp; Uhlaner (2011); Rehm, Uhlaner &amp; West (2012), fn. 3; Bradley, Hirt, Smit &amp; West (2018); Rudnicki, Siegel &amp; West (2019), fn. 2; Daume, Lundberg, McCurdy, Rudnicki &amp; Wol (2021), fn. 3 and fn. 4; Daume, Lundberg, Montag &amp; Rudnicki (2022); Daume, Lian &amp; McCurdy (2023). Definitions quoted or condensed from prose and footnotes only. <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-the-claim-that-outlived-its-test-fig01/">View exhibit</a>.</figcaption>
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